Our Lady’s Choral Society Presents:

A concert for the Faithful Departed – Duruflé Requiem

Mezzo Soprano:     Sharon Carty

Bass:                            John Molloy

Featuring:                  The National Sinfonia

Conductor:                Proinnsías Ó Duinn

Our Lady’s Choral Society

Sunday 8th November 2026 at 3.30pm in Merchant’s Quay Church, Dublin 2

Tickets are available through eventbrite  click here

Standard admission  €25

In May 1940 Germany invaded France. A year later, the Vichy Regime commissioned Maurice Duruflé, the French composer, organist, musicologist, and teacher, to compose a new work. He was 38. Commissioning a new piece of music was a gesture by the Pro-Nazi Vichy government to try and gain favour with the public.

The original commission was to compose a symphonic poem but as the war continued, Duruflé decided to compose a Requiem instead resulting in one of the great sacred choral works of the 20th century. It occupies a fascinating position between the ancient and the modern: its musical language is unmistakably 20th-century French, yet its foundations lie deep in the Gregorian chant tradition of the Roman Catholic liturgy.

Rather than treating the Requiem as a dramatic confrontation with death, Duruflé creates something much more contemplative. The prevailing mood is one of prayer, tenderness and hope, with moments of immense power arising almost naturally from the underlying chant.

His compositional process was slow. Always questioning what he had written, and rewriting until his perfectionist brain allowed him to move on. This perfectionism and self-doubt resulted in a Requiem that reflects deep emotional and spiritual themes, no doubt also influenced by the horrors of the war. The reference to Gregorian chant showcases his background and training in liturgical music.

The original orchestration is for a very large orchestra. Most amateur choral societies can only perform the Requiem in an edition with organ, solo cello and harp. Our performance today features a première of a new orchestration using a classical size orchestra. The aim is to keep the original dramatic intensity and colours while allowing the organ and harp to feature as Duruflé intended.

The composer

Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986) was a French organist, composer and teacher, and one of the most accomplished French organists of his generation. His musical personality was strongly influenced by the French organ tradition, particularly by Charles-Marie Widor, Eugène Gigout and Louis Vierne.